


And We've Traveled Land and Sea, Our Beacon The Love We Keep

by comicfanperson



Series: JNPR and friends [9]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Arguments, Brother-Sister Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Found Family, Gen, Hurt Oscar Pine, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Oscar Pine Needs a Hug, Overprotective Siblings, Polyamorous Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Protectiveness, Sarcastic Ozpin, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicfanperson/pseuds/comicfanperson
Summary: In a last ditch effort to prove himself, Oscar is put in a dangerous situation no one ever thought was a risk.(RRAYNNBOW goes on a mission, things go wrong, Raven has some beef with Ozpin, everyone is very protective of Oscar, and Oscar is protective of them too.)
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos & Oscar Pine & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Oscar Pine & Everyone, Oscar Pine & Yang Xiao Long, Ozpin & Oscar Pine, Raven Branwen & Ozpin (RWBY)
Series: JNPR and friends [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632898
Comments: 12
Kudos: 101





	And We've Traveled Land and Sea, Our Beacon The Love We Keep

**Author's Note:**

> this one is really, really special to me. it took so long, and i did like three different rewrites, and the only reason this is so good is because @albion-93(tumblr)/Albion_93(Ao3) is an actual angel sent from Heaven. His writing is so good, and it really elevated this piece. He really knew what he was talking abt, and everything abt his writing just really helped me out with this!!   
> this one is a request fill, and the last request ill be filling for a while bc theres some ideas i have for this so be on the lookout for more oneshots in this series!   
> Anon on tumblr said-  
> "I just found your AO3 series and I’m loving it! Good job. Might I request a little bit of JNPR protecting Oscar?"
> 
> so here you go anon!! I really hope you like it :,)

Oscar was very well aware that he’d be in  _ so  _ much trouble with JNPR, but he was also trying really, really hard to not care. 

_ It’s not working,  _ Ozpin commented dryly. 

If Oscar could look the old wizard in the eye and glare to his face, he would have done so. He was curled underneath some “emergency” blankets and an old tarp in the trunk of the car. He really wanted to snap back at the old man, but then he would be caught even sooner and the result would be… less than ideal. So  _ maybe _ it was wrong of him to try and sneak aboard a mission that they had been very serious about him not going on. But it didn’t make sense to him as to why he couldn’t come, he wanted to be there to support and protect them from whatever might cause them harm, and if it really was such an important matter then he just had to be there to do his part. He was the latest reincarnation of Ozma, after all.

He thought about what had happened just a few days prior, Yang and Blake showing up to the house in a frenzy, each being extremely upset and worried and neither of them would share anything until they saw all five members of JNPR in the flesh. Oscar had been scared, and confused, especially when they had been so vague, but they had promised to share more at a later time. 

That time had been the previous night, and Oscar only knew because he had gotten out of bed to make some hot cocoa, and found RWBY in the kitchen with his team. Ruby mentioned receiving a threatening anonymous letter, and Jaune seemed so on edge it was reminiscent of  _ that day  _ in Argus. Oscar had listened quietly from the stairwell, the single fact that he hadn’t been invited to this meeting speaking louder than any words ever could. He felt that after all his training, his life-and-death experiences, and not to mention  _ magic _ , he was still just “the kid” of the group.

So, like any good teammate, he snuck into the trunk of the big van to keep an eye on them. 

Well,  _ maybe  _ he was feeling a tad left out, and  _ maybe  _ he was curious, and worried for his friends and his family and just wanted to make sure they would all be  _ safe and sound.  _

His breathing hitched a little at the thought of not being trusted enough to at least be aware of what was going on. To make matters  _ worse _ they had told him that Qrow would be practically babysitting him while they went and took care of whatever was going on. Oscar liked spending time with Qrow, and all, but he didn’t like being kept in the dark when he could be helping them out. Plus, Qrow always acted a little different when he was being told to  _ specifically  _ look after him.

“These coordinates are too close for comfort,” Yang muttered from the very backseat.

“Which is why we’re taking care of this now,” Pyrrha reminded her gently from the driver’s seat.

“I’m going to break every joint in this person’s body and then see how they feel about threatening us,” Nora growled.

“I’ll happily join you,” Weiss added with a certain sharpness to her voice.

Oscar was kind of terrified now, because while Nora saying those things was fairly common, it wasn’t for the others to say something like  _ that.  _ He decided that it was really screwed up when they decided to mess around with RWBY  _ and  _ JNPR. 

A buzz started ringing throughout the car, and Oscar listened as Ruby pulled out her scroll and answered it. 

“Uncle Qrow? What’s wrong?”

Sure enough, there was a muffled, but noticeably raspy, voice coming from the other side, and Oscar quickly realized that was the one part of his plan he hadn’t completely thought through.

_ This will be interesting,  _ Ozpin sighed, and Oscar couldn’t help but agree. 

“What do you mean he’s missing?” Ruby asked, sounding scared and angry.

“Put it on speaker!” Jaune begged.

_ “I mean what I said, kid. I can’t find him anywhere,”  _ Qrow’s voice crackled over the speaker, and Oscar realized that this plan was probably going to be the biggest mess he had made in a while,  _ “I searched the whole house and the yard.” _

“Did you check the pond behind the house?” Ren asked.

_ “Yeah,”  _ Qrow groaned, “ _ You kids better hurry, we all know what that note said and… none of us want that to happen to him.” _

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Blake exclaimed, “We were all there! We all saw him before we left, how could this have happened so- so fast?” 

“We have to stay calm, for Oscar’s sake,” Pyrrha said, but her voice was shaking and there was just a hint of something there that made Oscar want to cry a little.

_ Well then, Miss Nikos is on the verge of tears because of you,  _ chided Ozpin. Guilt welled up inside Oscar, causing his whole body to sag. He held his breath in case Nora spoke up.

Ruby inhaled sharply, “We won’t be allowing whoever this is to get away with it.”

_ “I don’t doubt it,”  _ Qrow said, and hung up. Everything was starting to be pieced together now, and Oscar realized just how spectacularly he’d screwed up. 

“Oh no,” he breathed to himself, hoping the others didn’t hear. He had to tell them he was literally just in the trunk, but it made him anxious. They’d be so mad, probably relieved, but definitely mad. 

_ I know that you know this, but this is quite possibly the funniest situation you’ve ever gotten yourself in,  _ Ozpin chuckled,  _ Well, save for that someone threatened to take you from your home, apparently. _

“That last one was  _ so _ your doing, and you’re not helping,” Oscar whispered. Luckily, the others were talking so loud he didn’t think they would hear him.

_ Oh! Yes, yes, sorry. It’s just that maybe if you had listened to me when I first told you how astoundingly awful this plan was- _

“Oz,” he hissed under his breath, but the old man wouldn’t shut up.

_ How many lifetimes have I experienced? Really, Oscar, you would think that by now each reincarnation would be just slightly wiser than the last except for that I keep reincarnating as a- _

“Would you just shut up?!” Oscar finally straight up shouted, raising himself off the floor of the car in the process, his whole body covered in the tarp and blankets. 

The car swerved a bit on the road, tires screeching shrilly, as everyone started screaming. 

Oscar blinked as the tarp and blankets were yanked off him.

“ _ OSCAR?”  _ Yang screeched in disbelief, head whipped around and staring him right in the eyes.

“OSCAR!” Ruby shouted, all excited and relieved.

“ _ What _ do you think you’re doing?!” Weiss said, pointing accusingly.

“ _ What the _ \- how did you- are you  _ insane _ ?!?” cried Blake, her feline ears raised up in surprise, then flattened in anger.

“I- uh-” he stuttered, as everyone except Pyrrha was staring at him with wide eyes and gaping jaws.

_ And  _ **_that_ ** _ is how you execute a plan,  _ Ozpin said smugly. 

“I hate you,” he muttered at Ozpin.

“I'm pulling the car over,” Pyrrha alerted them coldly, and Oscar hung his head in shame.

It was a few moments of awkward, dead silence, but eventually she pulled the car into a clear side of a forested road. Oscar watched as they got out of the car, and was startled when the trunk was swung open roughly. He gave a nervous little laugh and wave when Jaune’s very unamused face looked back at him. Actually, most of RWBY and JNPR did not look very pleased with him at all.

“Uh- sorry…?” Oscar said, cheeks red with embarrassment. 

Jaune reached roughly into the back of the trunk, grabbed Oscar by the waist, and practically dragged him out of the vehicle. Oscar yelped when, instead of being thrown onto the ground like he expected, he was crushed in a painfully strong hug from his older teammate.

Oscar was surprised at how tightly Jaune held him, and then even more surprised when he realized his friend was  _ shaking.  _   
  
“Jaune…?” Oscar said, returning the tight hug.

The knight sucked in a deep and long breath, “Don’t you  _ ever  _ do that again.”

Oscar looked up at his face and saw that he was crying, but the angry kind of cry that made your eyebrows knit and cheeks scrunch up.

“ _ Promise me.” _

“I promise,” he whispered, resting his cheek on his friend’s shoulder. Gods, Oscar felt absolutely  _ awful.  _ He didn’t want to make anybody worried or upset, he just wanted to be included, to be  _ trusted.  _ He had magic powers for the Brothers’ sakes, he could take care of himself  _ and  _ the others if only they would give him a chance!

Reluctantly, Jaune let go of Oscar, but the others were quick to grab the young teen to inspect him. 

Nora rigorously pulled on every one of Oscar’s limbs. “Have I taught you  _ nothing?”  _ She said, “I mean seriously! We say ‘stay back’ and what do you do?!  _ The exact opposite!” _

Ren just stood back a bit and gave his notorious “Disappointed Dad” head shakes, and that made Oscar feel even  _ more _ guilty. A gloved hand rested on Nora’s shoulder, who stepped back as Oscar was pulled into yet another hug, this one from Pyrrha, her embrace was gentle and soft, yet it still managed to be strong, warm and comforting. 

“You should’ve thought for a little longer, Oscar, because what if something happened and we got into a wreck? You would’ve  _ died.  _ Riding in the trunk is dangerous,” Pyrrha lectured him, her voice steadily rising and getting even more panicked, “Not only that but you scared us! We thought that you had- had- had…”

And as her voice trailed off, like she was on the verge of tears, Oscar really felt the same way. Because he knew he could take care of himself, but he still didn’t know what was on that letter. It must’ve been terrifying for them.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, giving her a tight squeeze, resting his head on her chest.

“You had better be!” Weiss shouted, her arms folded crossly.

“Yeah, just what kind of stunt was that?” Yang questioned, now more confused than angry.

Oscar rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Uh, well- I- Um… you see-”

Ruby gave an exasperated sigh, “Oscar... you really had us all worried.”

“And I was worried too!” he finally said, “You guys just held a secret meeting without me, then hired  _ Qrow,  _ of all people, to babysit me! I still don't know what was in that letter and what made you guys so scared, but if we’re going to be a team then wouldn’t it be better if each of us, me included, were honest and open about whatever's scaring us?”

Each of his friends looked uncomfortable to a certain degree, and Ruby and Nora, specifically, looked ashamed. 

“Be honest, is it because I’m not as strong compared to you guys?”

“It has nothing to do with your abilities,” Pyrrha said after a few moments, “But it does have to do with what was in that letter.”

“We trust you, Oscar,” Jaune added, “We know that you can protect yourself, but…”

“You’re kind of still this little kid to us. I know that I look at you sometimes and all I can see is this boy who was unfairly forced out of his home and forced to fight a war you didn’t sign up for!” Nora finished for them.

“When we started our training as Huntsmen and Huntresses, each of us knew what the risks were, and we learned in a safe and controlled environment,” explained Blake.

“Until it was destroyed, that is,” Yang said bitterly.

“And, honestly, as good as you’re getting you still have a long way to go, yet,” added Ruby somewhat sheepishly.

Ren nodded his head, “We just want to protect you. And the contents of that letter… It made  _ us  _ worried, too. I’m sorry we kept you out of the loop, we thought maybe… maybe it would protect you. That’s why we didn’t tell you.”

Oscar stared at his boots, now being able to clearly understand their side of things, even if he  _ was  _ still mad at them.

_ I know that  _ **_I_ ** _ can’t blame them,  _ Ozpin said,  _ But maybe you shouldn’t either. _

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Oscar murmured, then he looked up at both teams, “I’m still upset that you guys tried to hide all that from me, but I understand why you did it… Well, I think I do. Could you maybe now tell me exactly what that letter said?”

Yang and Blake glanced over at Jaune, who gave a little nod as if to say they had his permission. Blake pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, and her and Yang stepped forward to hand it to him. Oscar gently took the paper from them, as if it might burn him.

It was a threat, plain and simple. The person said that if RWBY and JNPR didn’t show up to the coordinates in the letter in two days, then they’d take  _ Ozpin.  _ It didn’t really detail what they wanted with Ozpin, other than to torture him for information. 

_ This _ …  _ is a strange development,  _ Ozpin muttered with a great deal of concern.

“You can say that again,” Oscar said, still in shock. “But why… why  _ you?  _ Who all would know that you still lived on through me?”

_ A good question, maybe a former student or teacher. _

“We knew that to take Ozpin, that also meant taking you, Oscar,” Ruby said, a certain sadness to her voice, “We couldn't lose you again.”

“This sounds like a trap,” Oscar told her, worry building up in him all over again. 

“We know,” Pyrrha said, her resolve reignited, “But we weren’t willing to take a chance.”

“Okay, but this is  _ obviously  _ a trap, and you were… what gonna walk in and see what they wanted? What if they manage to kill you?!”

Weiss scoffed, unsheathing Myrtenaster, “They could  _ try,  _ but I think after everything we’ve been through they would find it very difficult.”

“Heck yeah! We’re basically bulletproof!” Nora smiled.

_ I would disagree _ , Ozpin groaned in exasperation. 

“Me too,” Oscar said softly. 

“Tell the old man to quit worrying,” Yang said, fondly ruffling his hair, “We’ve totally got this!”

They did not, in fact, “got this.”

“WATCH OUT!” shouted Ren as he pulled Nora down to the ground. Jaune and Pyrrha grabbed Oscar and leaped onto the ground, both of them with their shields over his head.

A missile hurtled at an alarming speed towards the group. The ensuing explosion kicked up a wall of dirt and rocks into the air. Oscar covered his ears, fear causing his limbs to turn weak.

“ _ AMBUSH!!! _ ” bellowed Yang, her eyes flaming red.

Then they came, a host of rough looking men and women with an array of weapons, yelling at the top of their lungs. At least two dozen bandits came charging out from the tree line. Everything fell into chaos. RWBY and JNPR were quick to respond and formed a defensive perimeter around the car. Ruby grabbed Oscar and pulled him into a patch of pushes just thirty feet away from the car.

“Oscar, stay here! Keep out of sight!” urged Ruby firmly, he nodded. She switched Crescent Rose into sniper mode and kept within ten feet of his hiding position.

The bandits were all sound and fury, but their tactics were sloppy. Most of the time, they hurled taunts and insults, which certainly worked to rattle Yang and drew her further away. Over time, the circle became wider and wider. Ruby, for her part stuck close by to the hiding spot and glanced back every now and then. Soon the whole area fell quiet and she strained to single out a target. Lowering Crescent Rose, she ran back to the hiding spot. Oscar was gone.

  
  


Oscar was getting very,  _ very  _ tired of being forcibly separated from the group. Like,  _ really,  _ what is up with that?! By this point his aura was low, he was tired, and he was almost unbearably low on energy. But he was determined to take care of it himself, because he  _ told  _ his friends he could, so he would. 

The whole thing had happened so quickly. One minute, Oscar was crouched down trying not to make a sound, the next he felt a hard blow to the back of his head. He was knocked out cold. When Oscar regained consciousness twenty minutes later, he was being tied up and dragged through the woods, he probably should’ve called for help.

_ You should’ve let me take over!  _ Ozpin scolded him. Oscar was, unfortunately, also gagged so he couldn't even tell Ozpin to shut up, which was arguably the worst part about this whole situation.  _ I can’t believe, after that entire conversation, we wound up kidnapped by petty thugs.  _

Oscar did his best to reply around the cloth, but it came out like mumbled gibberish that earned him a kick to the ribs for being too loud. 

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun,” one of the attackers grinned, and Oscar may have been getting slightly more scared with each passing moment. 

“Be careful with him,” another grumbled, “the boss wants him alive for a very  _ special  _ reason. Plus, I don’t want to deal with a pissed off Ozpin anymore than I have to.”

_ It is far too late for that,  _ the old wizard basically growled,  _ They will deeply regret this.  _

Oscar closed his eyes and did his best to keep his head off the ground, but his neck already ached terribly, and he was just so tired and drained from the fight that it took a lot of effort to do so. He squeezed his eyes tight and hoped that this would be over soon. It felt like forever, but eventually they had stopped dragging him, and when he looked around he saw they were standing next to a stone mountain.

“Sorry, kid,” a third one smiled, not looking sorry at all. Her boot collided with Oscar’s face and everything went dark. 

~*~

He woke up slowly, blinking lazily, his head felt like it was full of molasses, and his entire body unbearably sore. Whatever he was sitting on was cold, and hard, and his neck hurt from the angle he’d been forced into. He was so confused, nothing made any sense, and his memories of how he’d gotten here were evading him. He attempted to reach up to rub an ache on his forehead, but was stopped by painfully tight handcuffs keeping his arms behind his back and attached to the chair. 

_ OSCAR!  _

Ozpin was shouting his name, Oscar realized dimly. That would be why he woke up, then.

“Oz…?” he slurred, grateful for the old wizard.

“Not quite,” an unfamiliar voice broke through, dark and angry and bringing back all sorts of memories that certainly did  _ not  _ belong to him.

His eyes snapped open and he saw her there, the tall woman with striking black hair and hauntingly red eyes. Oscar felt Ozpin’s shock, and a flood of memories flashed before his eyes. 

Two kids,  _ twins _ , each exuding a desperation he had never seen before, yet so undeniably different from each other. Their distrust of other people, yet their eagerness to get better, to  _ be  _ better, for each other, for their team-

Watching them grow and become fierce warriors, watching them fall in love and start new lives-

Knowing that the reason  _ she  _ broke down and abandoned everything was because of him, because of his lies-

A death so painful Oscar couldn’t  _ breathe- _

She just stood there, tall above him, watching with narrowed eyes, her mouth twisted into a cruel sneer. Ozpin recognized those eyes from a lifetime of mistakes and loneliness, Oscar recognized them as those of a trusted friend. Raven Branwen crouched down in front of Oscar, a sick sneer on her face that made Oscar scared, yet made Ozpin sad. 

“I don’t want to talk to a child, Ozpin. You’ve hurt enough of those already.”

Oscar shrunk back, eyes darting to start at the floor, quivering in his seat, “Please, leave us alone-”

With a sudden movement, Oscar yelped in pain as a gauntleted backhand swiped across his face, drawing blood from the top of his left cheek.

“Shut up, kid,” she growled, rolling her eyes, “Just let me talk to Ozpin.”

Oscar stared at her as tears began to cloud his vision. Control was stolen from him as Ozpin pushed himself to the front. The wizard glared at the bandit chieftainess, fighting back the boy’s hurt tears, “I’m here, Miss Branwen. What do you want with me?”

She rose to her feet and glowered down at him, “I want you to finally  _ pay  _ for what you did to us. I want you to scream like  _ she  _ did, I want you to suffer like  _ she  _ did. I want you to keep hope, so that it hurts even more when things get worse. It’s  _ well  _ past time for that.”

“Raven,  _ please,  _ I’m sorry for what happened, it was… it was  _ never  _ supposed to go like it did, but we are here now, and holding onto the past isn’t how you create a brighter future.”

“A brighter future? A  _ brighter future?”  _ she breathed out, stepping back as if she’d been burned, “All chances of anything brighter, anything  _ better  _ died with her! But it couldn’t just stop there, right? It had to  _ keep going.  _ You had to keep sacrificing more for  _ nothing-” _

“Was it really nothing, Raven? Think of all the people that we’ve managed to save-”

Her eyes lit with flames, and Oscar thought his heart stopped from fear. 

“IT MEANS  _ NOTHING!”  _ A ball of flames was thrown at him and Ozpin, but Ozpin was quick to encompass them in a force field that repelled the flames. 

The flames were tossed onto the walls of whatever building they were in, and Oscar watched as it spread and Raven seemed to not care at all. She stood in front of them, looking like something from a nightmare with the burning walls surrounding her. 

“Without her,” Raven put her mask on, “It means nothing. You can only keep it up for so long, Ozpin. I don’t expect you to die here, but I expect you to have to watch the child suffer here, like I had to watch Summer.”

“Raven, your daughter and her sister, and all their friends will hunt you until the end of your days if you do this!” warned Ozpin, defiant and yet quiet in his anger.

She paused and glared for a moment, then a cold glint in her eye flickered from out of nowhere.

“Oh, and one final word for that mongrel pup you call your body; you were weak at Haven Academy, and you are still weak even after those frivolous redheads and their boytoys adopted you. I thought we were all screwed before, but I had no idea how doomed we were once the old man’s soul got mixed up with a worthless nothing like you.”

She sent one last blast at Oscar, finally shattering his aura. Then, took her bird form and made her escape. Ozpin relinquished control, and Oscar thought the old wizard felt so  _ sad.  _

_ Oscar… I’m so sorry. This is  _ **_my_ ** _ fault. _

The smoke filled Oscar’s lungs, and he coughed violently as his body tried to expel it, tears streaming down his cheeks due to his burning eyes. 

“I-I don’t care, Oz,” the young teen rasped, the smoke hurting him in ways he didn’t remember feeling before, “We have to... ge… get out of here.” Another coughing fit wracked his body, accidentally making him tug too hard on the brutal handcuffs, the metal digging into his skin.

_ Of course- _

But screams cut him off. Panic filled every one of Oscar’s bones because he  _ knew  _ those screams.

It was his team, they were hurt or scared, and he had to get out of here he had to go and help them, oh Gods-

Oscar pulled too hard on the cuffs, a shrill scream escaping when he felt something in his wrists  _ snap,  _ but it didn’t matter, he didn’t care, he just  _ had  _ to get to his team-

“ _ OSCAR!”  _ Pyrrha screamed as she burst through the door, sword swung out in front of her to attack any enemies, while her shield was angled protectively over her head in case debris came tumbling down.

“Pyrrha?” he cried out weakly, yelping when one of the rafters fell to the floor in front of him, still aflame.

She snapped her neck straight to him, eyes wide and fearful when they met his. 

“HOLD ON! WE’RE COMING!” she yelled, but the relief at seeing her was so much that he just allowed himself to relax some.

Jaune, Ren, and Nora seemed to just…  _ appear  _ at her side out of the smoke. The roaring of the fire soon became all he could hear, his eyes too blurry and clouded with tears to truly even see them anymore, but the consolation that they were okay was enough to calm him down some. 

“We have to be careful!” Ren warned them, watching the roof warily, knowing it was too close to collapsing. 

“And fast!” Nora added, gripping Ren and Pyrrha’s hands tightly in her own. 

Jaune’s eyes darted around for another moment, until he looked at them seriously, “I have a plan.”

As everything started going dark for Oscar, all he could hear was Ozpin’s broken screams and the fire thundering around him. Oscar hung his head, accepting his fate, until he felt the chair lift off the ground and sail through the air, he brought his previously dangling legs up to his chest, gasping for air as he flew over the worst of the fire, still getting hit by some of the higher flames, but managing to escape the worst of it.

The chair came down roughly just in front of Team JNPR, Pyrhha letting out a sob of relief while the other three scampered to Oscar quickly. Jaune wrapped himself around Oscar, trying to keep the teen awake while he used his semblance to strengthen Oscar’s aura. Nora brutally broke the chains of the handcuffs, while Ren used his semblance to keep Oscar calm. Jaune pulled Oscar into his arms as soon as he could, holding the young teen protectively against his chest. 

Team JNPR escaped the burning building, running across the clearing as it finally collapsed. They stopped in their tracks, turning around to watch in horror, the knowledge they were almost too late an unspoken weight among the group. 

Jaune gingerly laid Oscar down in the grass, pressing his hands on the boy’s chest where they assumed injury was the worst. 

“C’mon, Oscar,” Jaune urged softly, “Wake up.”

Pyrrha kneeled down next to Oscar’s head, running her fingers through his messy hair, “Please, Oscar,  _ please.” _

Nora, on the other hand, was stalking around them in impatient circles, Magnhild gripped tightly in her hands, “I’ll break- no, wait, I’ll  _ take  _ her kneecaps! I’ll make her wish that-”

“ _ Nora _ ,” Ren admonished her from where he sat next to Jaune. She looked down at her little family and melted. Ren was looking at her with those  _ eyes,  _ and Pyrrha was starting to cry…

“...Okay,” she said softly, still standing as close as she could with her weapon drawn in case anything tried to attack them again.

Ren pulled out his scroll to contact RWBY and set it to speaker, eyes trained on Oscar as he did so.

_ “Ren?! Did you find him?”  _ Ruby asked, coming over the scroll loud and clear.

“Yes, but he’s not in good shape,” he said, “Follow our coordinates, and hurry. There’s only so much we can do right now.”

_ “What happened?”  _ Yang said, worry evident in her voice.

Ren and Jaune shared a look with each other, each unsure of what to say to her, until Jaune finally just said, “We’ll explain later, just… hurry.”

Ren hung up, and JNPR proceeded to spend the next five minutes like this. Close and together, waiting with baited breath for Oscar to say or do something,  _ anything.  _

“J-Jaune…?” Oscar whispered out of the blue, eyes finally fluttering open as he looked up at his leader.

“Oscar!” Jaune exclaimed, a relieved smile on his lips, “Thank the Brothers!”

Oscar groaned, trying to move around a bit, but the others were quick to hold him down.

“You need to stay still so Jaune can finish helping you, okay?” Pyrrha told him with a sad frown. 

“Okay…” he murmured, his eyes falling closed again, his breathing shallow and soft.

“No, Oscar, don't fall asleep!” Jaune shouted, shaking the teen gently to keep him awake.

“Wh… Why? What's wrong…? What happened…?”

Ren gave Oscar a reassuring smile, “We’ll talk more when you’re lucid, just stay awake and still right now for us.”

Oscar allowed himself to drift between reality and the nightmare-scape he’d just deserted. His team was like a group of guardian angels, finding him when he least expected it and being there for him despite everything. He took in a deep and shuddering gasp, chest heaving as the damage to his body slowly reversed.

“Jaune!” he heard Ruby shout as she and her team came into view.

“Ruby!” Jaune and Nora said at the same time, each wearing a similar look of relief.

Yang slid to her knees beside Oscar, watching him with her horror as she hesitantly reached her hands out like she wanted to hold him.

“No…” she whispered, closing her eyes as tears began to fall from them. Then she looked up at Jaune, and all Oscar could see were those red,  _ red  _ eyes.

“I’ll kill her,” Yang finally said, tone dark and leaving no room for argument.

Jaune brushed his hand across Oscar’s forehead, “You’ll have help.”

Oscar closed his eyes softly and let himself be engulfed in the comforting darkness of his mind. He wanted to respond to his friends shaking him and begging him to open his eyes, but he couldn’t. He was out of energy, and they’d already made him stay awake for so long… It was easy to allow himself the luxury of sleep.

It seemed his eyes were closed for only a moment when he woke up in his own bed in their home in Patch. He sat up quickly, panicked as to what may have happened, until he realized that his team was right there with him.

He sighed and fell back against his pillows, hugging himself tightly as the alarm dissipated. 

“Finally,” Ren murmured, resting a hand on Oscar’s shoulder to help steady the teen. 

“I guess I slept the whole way back…?”

Pyrhha chuckled a little, combing her fingers through his hair, “And then some.”

“We’re just happy you’re okay,” Jaune said, smiling warmly.

“And now that you’re awake I can start the witch hunt!” Nora said happily. 

Oscar frowned, very confused, “Witch… hunt…?”

“Ya know, for Yang’s mom!” 

“Oh, well, I… Maybe it’s best to leave her alone… She’s obviously really dangerous and none of us need to deal with that anymore than we have to,” Oscar mumbled nervously, and shrugged, “I’m.. I’m not strong enough...”

Pyrrha grimaced at that and gently held both his hands, “She hurt you, Oscar. Worse than she has almost any of us, and we have to stop her before she attacks again. She could go after any of us, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen. We are stronger together than she is alone.”

_ I don’t think there is any arguing with them,  _ Ozpin pointed out,  _ Maybe it’s for the best. _

“If you really think so,” Oscar said to both Pyrrha and Ozpin, “In future, please keep me in the know if any one of us is in danger.”

“We promise,” Jaune said, and Pyrrha, Nora and Ren echoed this. 

JNPR smiled at him, and the worry in Oscar softened. He knew that at the end of the day, everything would turn out how it was supposed to, if only because they were a team, a  _ family,  _ and they would always protect each other. They couldn’t keep Oscar from any fight, no matter how much they tried. He couldn’t ever just stand idly by while they went and risked their lives and he could be helping out. It just wasn’t right. And Oscar didn’t think they’d ever try again, because this team could face anything so long as they were together.


End file.
